Standards of risk governance have improved at Europe’s 25 biggest banks, but many boards are still failing to send management a clear message on the level of risk they can take, according to a new report. Boards are more involved in approving risk appetite than they were before the financial crisis, but only 64 percent […]
Risk Management
Posted inRisk Management
Companies Failing to Learn Risk Lessons
As the financial crisis abates, companies are likely to return to the limited “compliance-based” approach to risk management that got so many of them into trouble, according to a new study by accountants Grant Thornton. The firm surveyed senior executives at 465 U.K. and Irish companies and found “disappointing” attitudes to risk management. Risk processes […]
Posted inRisk Management
Risk Oversight Tips for Directors, From Directors
With the financial crisis focusing increasing attention on corporate risk oversight in general, the topic is top of mind for boards these days. Those grappling with the board’s role in overseeing the company’s risk exposure can take some tips gathered from other public company directors. In a report published by The Conference Board, authors André […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
PCAOB Adopts Eight New Standards on Risk Assessment
In one fell swoop, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted a slate of new auditing standards that tell auditors how to assess risk, doubling the number of standards in the board’s rulebook. The board adopted Auditing Standards No. 8 through No. 15, giving auditors a detailed roadmap for assessing and responding to the risks […]
Posted inRisk Management
Survey Shows More Work to Be Done on Comp Risk
Compensation committees may have more work to do to fully understand the level of risk in their organizations’ pay plans, according to findings of a recent survey by compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer & Partners. While 60 percent of the 630 directors and employees polled say they’re confident that their compensation committees fully understand the level […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Get a Grip on Risk, Regulator Tells Canadian Bank Boards
Board directors at Canada’s financial services companies need to get a better grip on risk management, according to the country’s financial regulator. “The old excuses—the risk is too complicated, I don’t want to second guess, I don’t have enough time—just aren’t good enough anymore,” said Ted Price, an Assistant Superintendent at the Office of the […]
Posted inRisk Management
Housing Regulator Warms to Third-Party Risk
We often talk around here about the risks that corporations face from their third parties: resellers, distributors, venture partners and so forth. Typically that discussion is in the context of the Justice Department or Securities and Exchange Commission cracking down on the risk of bribery. Well, now the Federal Housing Administration is getting in on […]
Posted inRisk Management
Goldman Analysis: Lessons for CCOs
The fraud charges leveled against Goldman Sachs on Friday are—or more accurately, could be—a pivotal moment as the United States continues its long, slow extrication from the financial crisis. The 22-page complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission is almost too painful to read, filled with damning e-mail excerpts and fact patterns sure to […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
PwC Survey Highlights Shift in Internal Audit Focus
A recent annual survey on the state of the internal audit profession provides new evidence that internal auditors are looking to redefine their role in how organizations assess and manage their risks. A study of 2,000 internal auditors in late 2009 revealed assessing risk for the board of directors is among the more common activities […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Risk Standard Comments Tread into PCAOB Process
As audit regulators review comments on their reworked proposal for seven new risk assessment standards, they’re also getting some pretty forthright advice on how to write audit rules. Even the U.S. Government Accountability Office has weighed in on where the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board may be inviting trouble with its latest attempt. The PCAOB’s […]
